> I'm curious what losses there are to be cut? Isn't it as simple as just buying a different product and using that instead?

Chances are they have software installed on their machine. OSX has a vibrant ecosystem of independent developer and thus a pretty large number of bespoke good-quality software which might / would have to be replaced. Especially as cross-platform software tends to integrate less than well with the platform.

That goes double for older mac users, which have a higher tendency to use native software.

And of course one needs the time to adapt to different paradigms, shortcuts, facilities, … once again especially for older users of the platform for whom this becomes second nature.

Incidentally the points mix, the second one drives the first, I regularly notice cross-platform software which doesn't respond properly to Cocoa's text-movement shortcuts (even a simple C-a / C-e).

Losses in accumulated platform knowledge, purchased software investments, and custom built tooling. No, it’s not like replacing a dishwasher!

For me, these are non trivial to replace on Linux or windows: 3 years of randomly generated passwords conveniently stored, a purchased movie collection on iTunes, tab syncing between phone and laptop, touchId login, and probably most importantly iMessage sync between laptop and phone.

Presumably the investment in MacOS applications. Switching from Mac to whatever else would require finding replacements for those.

Possibly software and accessories that only work with macOS.